The Scene

Antz

Anyone who's watched one of the smart, animated television shows of recent years already knows that cartoons aren't solely the domain of children. But it's taken the PG-rated Antz to bring this current sensibility to the big screen.

Antz uses stunningly fluid computer animation to tell a hymenopteran version of Spartacus. In this case, no one in the ant colony seems to realize that they're essentially slaves, until a worker named Z-4195 begins asserting himself. Written by Todd Alcott, Chris Weitz and Paul Weitz, Antz completely anthropomorphizes the insects, and uses their inherent social structure to make multiple -- and none-too-subtle -- allusions to communism versus individuality.

Z (voice of Woody Allen) isn't out to turn his world upside down, but his insistence on personal autonomy within a society that functions as a finely tuned organic machine has the effect of a hairline crack forming at the base of a concrete column.

In a Romeo and Juliet twist, Z hooks up with the slumming Princess Bala (Sharon Stone) to search for a mythical Shangri-La known as Insectopia. But Z, an unlikely hero who survived a brutal battle against ferocious termites, must return to save the colony from General Mandible (Gene Hackman), who harbors a devious plan for ethnic cleansing.

Directors Eric Darnell and Tim Johnson use all the technological artillery of their company, PDI, to create a fully realized story, where distinct characters emerge from the suffocating crush of conformity. It's to PDI's credit that the ants in this witty and fun adventure-romance-comedy are more real than many live-action humans.